Animal Species:Western Talma, Chelmonops curiosus (Kuiter, 1986)

The Western Talma is a deep bodied, compressed fish with a long pointed snout and high dorsal and anal fins. It is silvery with five black bars. The species occurs from South Australia to the central coast of Western Australia.

Standard Common Name

Alternative Name/s

It is also been called the Truncate Coralfish, Coral Fish, Truncate Butterflyfish, Southern Butterflyfish and Squareback Butterflyfish.

Identification

The Western Talma is a deep bodied, compressed fish with a long pointed snout and high dorsal and anal fins. It is silvery with five black bars. The ventral fins are black with a leading white edge.

Size range

It grows to 26 cm in length.

Similar Species

The Western Talma resembles the Eastern Talma. The Western Talma can be distinguished by its longer dorsal and anal fins, and deeper body.

Distribution

The species occurs from South Australia to the central coast of Western Australia.

The map below shows the Australian distribution of the species based on public sightings and specimens in Australian Museums. Click on the map for detailed information. Source: Atlas of Living Australia.